Meet our 2020-2021 Scholars

12 students were selected for the 2020-2021 UF Health Cancer Center University Scholars Program.

2020-2021 Scholars

Shoba Abraham

• Major: Biochemistry
• Minor: Health Disparities
• Mentor: Walter O’Dell, PhD
• College of Medicine
• Research Project Title:
  Evaluating Variability in the Measurement of Global Longitudinal Strain with Slice Orientation
• UFHCC Research Program: Cancer Control & Population Sciences 

Jacob Best

• Major: Biology-Biotechnology
• Minor: Bioinformatics
• Mentor: Rui Xiao, PhD
• College of Medicine
• Research Project Title:
  Mechanisms of longevity regulation of C. elegans
• UFHCC Research Program: Mechanisms of Oncogenesis

Cayle Gao

• Major: Biochemistry
• Minor: Mathematics
• Mentor: Carma Bylund, PhD
• College of Medicine
• Research Project Title:
  Doctor-patient cancer communication through telemedicine during COVID-19
• UFHCC Research Program: Cancer Control & Population Sciences

Mitchell Gulkis

• Major: Biochemistry
• Minor: Music Theory
• Mentor: Jianrong Lu, PhD
• College of Medicine
• Research Project Title:
  Verification of Gene Targets Determined as Vulnerabilities by a Bioinformatic Screen in EMT Cancer Cells
• UFHCC Research Program: Cancer Therapeutics & Host Response

Bergen Lemack

• Major: Health Science
• Minor: N/A
• Mentor: Sergei Kusmartsev, PhD
• College of Medicine
• Research Project Title:
  Oxalate Spot Testing Insights from a Variety of Oxalate-Containing Meals
• UFHCC Research Program: Cancer Therapeutics & Host Response

Jason Liu

• Major: Statistics
• Minor: Philosophy
• Mentor: Ji-Hyun Lee, DrPH
• College of Medicine
• Research Project Title:
  Survival Analysis of Advanced Lung Cancer Data to Identify Risk Factors
• UFHCC Research Program: Cancer Control & Population Sciences

Alisha Patel

• Major: Biochemistry & Anthropology
• Minor: N/A
• Mentor: Jonathan Licht, MD
• College of Medicine
• Research Project Title:
  Investigation of the Role of N6-Methyladenosine (m6A)-dependent mRNA degradation in the Dexamethasone Response
• UFHCC Research Program: Mechanisms of Oncogenesis

Annika Petersen

• Major: Biology (Pre-Professional)
• Minor: N/A
• Mentor: Loic Deleyrolle, PhD
• College of Medicine
• Research Project Title:
  Slow cycling cell RNA based T cell therapy to prevent recurrence in glioblastoma (GBM)
• UFHCC Research Program: Cancer Therapeutics & Host Response

Anthony Pistella

• Major: Health Science
• Minor: N/A
• Mentor: Chenglong Li, PhD
• College of Pharmacy
• Research Project Title:
  Novel small-molecule inhibitors targeting the Hippo signaling pathway
• UFHCC Research Program: Mechanisms of Oncogenesis

Manjula Somanchi

• Major: Health Science
• Minor: N/A
• Mentor: Catherine Flores, PhD
• College of Medicine
• Research Project Title:
  Enhancing immunotherapy against solid tumors
• UFHCC Research Program: Cancer Therapeutics & Host Response

Ryan Willson

• Major: Biology
• Minor: Business Administration
• Mentor: Catherine Flores, PhD
• College of Medicine
• Research Project Title:
  Enhancing immunotherapy against solid tumors
• UFHCC Research Program: Cancer Therapeutics & Host Response

Zachary Zaroogian

• Major: Biochemistry & Music in Combination with an Outside Field
• Minor: N/A
• Mentor: Olga Guryanova, MD, PhD
• College of Medicine
• Research Project Title:
  Mechanisms of Progression from Pre-Malignant Conditions to Leukemia
• UFHCC Research Program: Mechanisms of Oncogenesis

10 Years — Champions of Center of Undergraduate Research